[1] Powered by two Babcock & Wilcox boilers, feeding a single General Electric steam turbine engine, the ships reached a maximum speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph).

[1] Protecteur-class oilers carried a crew of three hundred and sixty five men and women, including 27 officers, and 45 air detachment personnel who operated and supported three embarked CH-124 Sea King helicopters.

Two 20 mm Phalanx close-in weapon system points and six .50 calibre machine guns helped protect the cargo and crew of the Protecteur class if their BAE Systems Mark 36 SRBOC chaff launchers or AN/SLQ-25 Nixie towed decoy did not prevent enemy weaponry from endangering the ship.

General wear and tear notwithstanding, Protecteur was involved in a very serious engine room fire in February 2014 and more recently corrosion problems were found on Preserver.

The Royal Canadian Navy looked at other options to fill the gap until the arrival of the two Protecteur-class auxiliary vessels in 2019 at the earliest.